Hi everyone,
Although Mercedes quality has been going down for a while, and I am no stranger to how poorly they're build having worked on their cars and transmissions.
Mercedes started a collaboration with "RNM alliance" (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi) and many of their smaller and cheaper cars are actually made with Renault powertrains.
The CLA powertrain uses off-the-shelf popular engines and transmissions (I've been working on for years).
Engines:
The CLA180 and CLA200 use the Renault H5ht ("M282") engine, these are popular and reasonably well built units, can be cheaply serviced and tend to last quite a while.
The CLA 180dCi used an Renault K9K ("OM607") although this is the same engine as in a $12k (MSRP) Dacia Lodgy, It's an indestructible engine as well, and it's even not tuned to have a performance boost.
Transmissions:
As far as the transmission, they again went with a very popular unit made by Alliance (more specifically its made by GETRAG), the 7DCT300 from the ones I worked on seem to be excellent. It's installed on the Mini cooper, a lot of new BMW models as the "Steptronic", All European ford models and pretty much all Renualt / Nissan Diesels.
(As a side note, this is very similar to what Volvo did about a decade ago when they used Mazda Miata engines L-SERIES 2.0 ("B4204S3") and Ford transmissions making base versions of the C30/S40/V50 absolute bargains once they're 5-10 years old. For example my 2011 65k mile C30 costed me $6k and although I get a fancy interior, Volvo badge, sporty handling as far as servicing the car it's as simple as ever.)
I'm worried that things like ABS pumps, Power steering pumps, and electronics may be weak and may require trips to the dealer...
With that in mind, I'm considering buying a used 2013-2016 CLA180 to drive my daily 30 mile commute with about 50k-60k miles for about a third of it's MSRP. I am not planning on keeping it for over 120k-140k miles as that's usually when that transmission starts to break down.
TLDR: is a Mercedes CLA a smart purchase? what other caveats should I expect from this Mercedes? or should I get a low millage 2014 Volvo XC60 with a 2.0 EcoBoost engine (I know these engines are weak)...
Any information on the subject will be appreciated. 😊
bump.
@g-t , @DayWalker , @InThrustWeTrust , @mountainmanjoe
any information as to common Mercedes CLA faults will be appreciated, thank you in advance.
Also adding @Bruceree
Sorry, I don't know a lot about these.
If they're anything like previous Mercedes, it's going to be overly complex, and jammed full of electronics and computers. Simple maintenance tasks will be very expensive to perform, and often will require taking it to a dealer.
I too, don’t claim to know a lot about these, however, I don’t think the A, B & CLA are real Mercedes products.. If you’re after the badge, get a brand new one on lease.
Even though it may have mass market powertrains, parts may still be sold under the Mercedes Benz umbrella at severely marked up prices.
A quick Google search on the vehicle turned up this -
https://www.mercedescla.org/forums/cla-problems-issues-complaints.64/
The ultimate vote of confidence in a vehicle is buying it (not leasing it) and keeping it well past warranty. I can’t recommend buying or keeping beyond warranty for that Mercedes. Also, realize I say this living in North America, where it costs an arm and a leg for repairs (either at German independent mechanic or the dealer), and the electronics failing or acting up are what scare me the most (out of warranty). If someone over here wanted that Mercedes (or any Mercedes, really) - I would say lease it.
I mean, I had a 1st generation Renualt Megane (148th/152th in satisfaction survey (4th worst)) and I drove it until 170,000 miles, well out of the warranty period, and that thing broke on a weekly basis through out it's entire life. I just learned to budget for the fact i'll have to repair it
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I'm willing to spend a couple grand a year fixing the Mercedes... I'm just hoping that things like ABS pumps will be reliable so I won't have to fork out too much...
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If you're going to buy a Benz, go E-Class or higher and lease it. The entry offerings aren't worth the entry price and are very poorly put together.
Yep, low end Mercedes do tend to be low quality.
that being said, they're very cheap when they're 5-6 years old with 50k-60k miles (at least in my area)
and Even if the ride and interior are low quality, the powertrain seems fine. I'm just scared to electronics and other equipment failing and I can't seem to find any information on the reliability of those...
Not much for me to add as everybody already have said pretty much everything needed to be said haha. For me the main points I totally go give the thumbs up to is that I would only prefer the E-Class and higher, they are in fact the best built from what I've seen so far. At least. And the fact that they are wayyyy over-engineered. If anything else I would keep an eye out for is the very true fact that since they have switched to "green alternatives" they have become notorious for mice to start tearing them apart and living with them. And plastic quality is as good as you can expect(cheap china, and nothing else, I've seen connector bits break off from not even that much force at as little as 20k miles). Also the thing where Mercedes still sells special spray to get rid of mold growth in the AC systems (several recalls and expect more coming, been going on for years now) what a joke... I mean I like my benz's and all but it's just too sad to the point where it's funny.
@Dan, for the electricals you have the right idea to be afraid. When the do work, it's like a charm, when they are broken it's more akin to a curse. Even resetting the car is a total pain, if the car is dead and you replace the battery, good luck trying to get the radio and SRS not not throw a million codes lol
thank you for your answer. 🙂
yep. Resetting these kinds of cars is a nightmare. on that gearbox you will possibly have to use the relearn program the ‘mechatronic’ and that has a huge risk of frying it.
Nah don't waste ur money on a low-end Mercedes. They generally fall apart and will cost a lot to repair and maintain.
When they fall apart, what kind of issues do they usually have?
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As far as maintenance, the engine and transmission (tCe 150 and EDC7) they're pretty cheap to service... I've worked on those for a lot over the last decade.
mostly electrical problems tbh since that's what a lot of Mercedes Benz cars are known for.
Hello!
All I know this class came out in 2013, the engine in 2011. I personally am not a fan of fresh models/generations and engines.
Some basic info about the engine
According to that, the timing chain and turbocharger wear out quickly.
According to this site (Link) there is an airbag recall due to insufficient grounding.
In extreme cases, the driver’s airbag may go off and cause injury to the driver. This is applicable to cars from the start of production in 2013 to July 2017.
Good luck and stay safe!
